Mission Mission

We were checking out Mission Mission’s stats, and noticed that “animal sex” is our most popular tag — by a mile. This was all begat by the cartoon animals making love post about some graffiti we saw on a bus. We thought we were just recognizing some charming art we saw in the nabe. Unbeknownst to us, we had tapped into something much more interesting. So we started talking: “We’ve analyzed the numbers; now how can we best cater to the needs of our audience?” Then we recalled a fascinating report broadcast some time last year by VBS TV about an allegedly time-honored Colombian tradition: fucking donkeys.

Link to Part One (in which the history of the tradition is introduced).

Link to Part Two (in which the voracity of certain allegations are examined).

Link to Part Three (in which a dude bones a donkey).

Link to the report’s official blog entry (with safe-for-work pictures).

(whored-up donkey photo by davelandsberg)

I wore my Matt For Mayor t-shirt all weekend, expecting to hear some anti-Nader/pro-Obama rhetoric or chants or something. But nobody said much of anything. While buying some Thin Mints, a Girl Scout mom said “Hey you dusted that thing off; now you can just put for Vice President on it”. Okay. On Saturday night, I was at celebrating my editor’s 33rd birthday. He was a few drinks in, noticed the shirt, slapped me on the back and said, “That’s why I love San Francisco and will never ever leave! Only here would people position the democrat as this hüpfburg right-wing, fascist asshole!”But still, nobody took umbrage with my wearing the shirt. Here I thought I was all controversial.

matt gonzalez for mayor t-shirt, originally uploaded by allanhough.

Following in the grand tradition of Ribity and Girafa, Ba-Kok (as far as I can tell) is the latest quirky cartoon animal to appear on the streets of the Mission. It’s a kink-necked graffiti chicken in the throes of some kind of spastic episode, and I dig it.

ba-kok, originally uploaded by allanhough.

This huge red balloon gripped the attention of hundreds of revelers in Dolores Park this afternoon. The hubbub began in the playground, with a bunch of kids chasing the thing around. Then the wind kicked up, sending the crimson orb high into the air, up to the second and third tiers of the park’s southern ridge. Sunbathers, picnickers and dog walkers alike rose to the occasion to prevent the balloon’s escape aufblasbare wasserrutschen from Dolores Park. Each time the wind’s efforts were thwarted, the transfixed throngs cheered the heroic balloon wrangler. This scene was repeated several times over, the cheers growing louder and louder until finally the humungoid red-rubber air-filled globe blew through the trees bordering 20th Street, up against the front windows of the houses across the way, and ultimately around the corner into the J-Church’s dedicated right-of-way around Liberty Hill.

giant red balloon in dolores park, originally uploaded by allanhough.

Omer is that street musician you always see in an alcove as you’re leaving We Be Sushi or Amnesia or something. He plays angry versions of “Blue Suede Shoes” and other rock’n'roll standards, as well as politically charged originals, attacking his busted acoustic guitar like a man possessed. Omer’s a great conversationalist too; ask him about current events or music and he’ll talk your ear off. Sometimes he even has CDs for sale. My favorite is “Democracy is a Good Thing”. I thought about putting some Omer on imeem, but I dunno. I did start an Omer Flickr group though.

The squid and the seahorse are great, but the learned fish guzzling hooch is without peer. Got these at Paxton Gate the other day.